


Tulipa gesneriana

by Tiashe_Silverfox



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Burning Rescue are family, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt/Comfort, I haven't watch the movie yet, M/M, Mad Burnish are family, Post-Canon, so might be OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 04:36:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21440329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiashe_Silverfox/pseuds/Tiashe_Silverfox
Summary: It started with a cough, then a petal.Hanahaki was used to be a common problem for the society, but after the Great World Blaze, it had disappeared without a trace. People thought with the birth of Burnish, the flowers could not longer grow.They never knew how wrong they were.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 2
Kudos: 96





	Tulipa gesneriana

**Author's Note:**

> A hanahaki AU, I had slightly tweaked the setting of the disease, like instead of only romantic love, the flowers also bloom with familial love or platonic love and so on so forth.
> 
> I tried to explain the details in the story as clearly as I can, if there's still any problem, feel free to have a chat with me.

It started with a cough, then a petal.

And Lio barely noticed the small petal floated out through his lips, glided away with the wind.

It was more common to get sick now, ever since Promare left the Earth, specially the Burnish. They were more prone to getting sick and always feeling cold no matter the weather. It was normal, seeing they had been bathing in fire and warmth for most of their lives.

Lio being one of the strongest Burnish had more severe side effects. He was constantly cold and had to bundle up for warmth. Galo had been kind and charitable to offer him his apartment and rearranged it to suit for Lio’s needs, like extra heating blankets and space heater. Lio was grateful.

At first, Lio camped out on Galo’s couch, hogging blankets and pillows to create a nest of warmth. It would be adorable if not for it was 37 degree Celsius outside of the house. It became worst once winter hit, Lio was never warm in the freezing season. The hot water bag could not even warm up his core temperature. In result, Lio had migrated into Galo’s bed to preserve warmth.

It was not his fault that Galo is a walking furnace even in summer.

So, Lio did not notice the petals that accompanied his cough.

He coughed and Galo was quick to give him something to warm him up. It didn’t help that they don’t see each other much these few weeks, seeing both had been very busy with rebuilding the world. Burning Rescue asides from being a firehouse, also doubled as a temporally rebuilding headquarters.

Ignis had been working as both the leader of Burning Rescue and World Rebuild. His subordinates worked hard every day to fulfill daily quota of helping. Lio, who was the leader of Mad Burnish and now the lead ambassador representing the ex-Burnish community, working endlessly trying to integrate his people back into the society.

The weeks that Lio didn’t see Galo made him missed the warmth.

Meis and Gueira, ever loyal to him, tried their best to keep him warm.

When Lio finally noticed, there was a flower bulb in his palm. He had just suffered from a bad coughing fit, followed by something lodging itself in his throat. When he spat it out, he was dumbfounded. With how busy he was with his mind occupied with all the rebuilding stress, there simply isn’t any time for him to fell in love with somebody! And who could he fell in love with anyway!?

To tell the truth, Lio was stressing out.

It’s bad enough that he suffered the worst post-Promare side effects and now hanahaki!?

Why won’t God end him right now? He does not have the time for love!

He disposed on the bulb when he heard Gueira came to knock on his door, trying to hide the evidence and hoping to forget it. Maybe……Maybe it will fade away as he tried to pay it no mind.

It did not fade away.

To rub salt into wound, it bloomed into full flowers.

Yellow tulips, so, so beautiful and yet so deadly in their gracefulness.

* * *

Hanahaki disease, before the Great World Blaze, was a common but worrying social problem. While most of the causes were romantic feelings, doctors had stated that some of them were caused by different reason, such as familiar love and platonic love. People took great caution against it, either announced their heart out loud or guarded them with great ferocity.

After the Blaze, for thirty years, there weren’t any report of hanahaki anywhere, officially recorded or not. And so, people assumed the disease died with the emerged of Burnish.

Yet they had forgotten, hanahaki does not belong to any category of existing diseases. No one knows how the flowers appeared. Was there seeds residing in the human body? Or is it a virus? Why did they only react to love? Where did they disappear to after they wilted? It remains as a mystery even now.

Thirty years of negligent towards it, the flower strikes again.

One of the ex-Burnish had been a florist before being shun. He had seen the petal that gotten stuck to Lio’s shirt and made a comment, “It’s been a while since I saw tulips, Boss. Did you happen on it by chance?”

“Huh? Oh, I don’t really notice. Maybe I passed by some or from somewhere else.” Being caught off guard, Lio first instinct was to lie and went with the flow. The ex-Burnish made a hum, “It would nice to see flowers again. You know, yellow tulips represent ‘there’s a sunshine to your smile’ in Victorian Era. Basically it means happiness, cheerfulness and hope. Such positivity, don’t you think?”

“Sounds great. They’re seems like happy flowers.”

“They do, don’t they. It’s hard to believe that these happy flowers used to mean hopeless love and jealousy back in the older days. ” The man chuckled, not knowing that he stirred something that was hidden deep, deep, deep inside Lio’s heart.

The flowers continued to invade his lungs, making it harder and harder to breathe every passing day. With them in full bloom, it was a miracle that Lio could hide his condition when his cough fits gets harsher. His friends still thought he was cold, so he’s been gifted with cold meds and cough relieves. It helps some days, but only a little.

The only time he could breathe easier was when Galo dropped in for a visit.

The man was still as bright as always with never ending enthusiasms. Vibrating with positivity everywhere he went, it made Lio’s days brighter, less gloomy.

“Hey, Lio!” Galo waved to Lio happily when he saw him, hands full with bags, “I figured you’d skipped lunch again, so! I brought them to you!” Now only did Lio notice the bags were packed with lunch boxes. Galo, by no means a skillful cook himself, but Lio appreciated the gesture. He looked up for home recipes on the net and finally put his well-furnished kitchen to good use.

Not to say he succeeded the first time. As the matter of fact, he burnt it.

Lio did not want to think about the time he came back to a heart attack thinking there a fire in the apartment due to the fresh smell of smoke lingering in the closed space.

But practice made perfect!

“You don’t have to, you know?” Lio helped him unpacked the boxes, arranging them onto the table in his make-shift office area, “I know, but I feel better knowing that you ate. Or else Gueira will come nagging to my ears about your poor diet. Then Meis will glare at me for not feeding you.” Galo handed him a box filled with fluffy white rice, “And I hate that you always put others above yourself. If you’re not gonna take care of yourself, then somebody got to do it for you.”

How? How it is that this honest man exists in the world?

Lunch was simple chicken and vegetable stir fry originated from the east. The chicken was tender and vegetable a tad bit overcook, but it warmed Lio’s empty stomach. “It’s good. You’ve been getting better at it.”

“I’m glad! I’ll make sure to practice more.” His smile is radiant enough to rival the sun, Lio felt blinded by the brightness of his grin. That night, his cough fits had gotten worse. It was getting harder to hide it.

* * *

Hanahaki had been categorized into four stages: first stage, petal stage; second stage, flower bulb stage, third stage, half-bloom stage and finally, the full bloom stage. The flowers react to the feeling known as love, they grow when the feelings developed whether or not the host realizes it. Scientists proven that the flowers were sentient in they own unique ways. If there was requited love, no matter how hard the host was crushing, flowers will never bloom in that condition. However, if the host’s crush is oblivious to his feelings even though he like the host subconsciously, the flowers bloom, not able to detect the feelings upfront.

When work finally calmed down, Lio found himself loitering in Galo’s apartment more than the Burnish Shelter. Galo is naturally a loud person, be it his action, his voice or his presence and Lio always had his eyes trailing to the firefighter. Galo is always warm, his words, his gesture and most importantly, his smile.

Galo’s smile alone could rival the sun.

Yellow tulip meant there’s sunshine in your smile.

Of course. How could he be so blind, to not to notice the meaning behind the flower? Lio prided himself for being able to notice things a mile away from happening. But he did not see that he had fallen in love with this stupidly kind, number one firefighting idiot with a burning soul. Of course he would fell in love with him.

It was such a gradual thing, for it to become a habit, to get used to having him around.

So why does Lio’s heart hurts so much?

Squad Three was a family to Galo. Ignis being the chief more often acted like the exasperated parent watching over his team of unruly children wrecking chaos in town. The rest of the team was more or less siblings to him. Galo being the brutally honest being he was, has strong bonds with each one of his teammates. He was especially close to their resident mad scientist, creating and testing mechanical prototypes together and wrecked havoc.

And there was Aina.

Although the girl often acted the opposite, anyone with eyes could saw that she’s heads over heel for the oblivious idiot, expect for said oblivious idiot. Lio frequently saw the two of them talking in the fire house, and he could see the charming pink blush on Aina’s cheek whenever she ended up within Galo’s proximity.

Sharp claws sank deep into his heart.

Lio felt something similar before but it was not quite the same. He was used to being bitter when his people were scorned by society, but this felt even worse. It was more anger than sadness and possessive. He frowned at the duo, the feeling of wishing Galo would keep his attention on him overwhelmed him. And finally, it clicked to his mind that he was jealous of Aina.

He had hoped that Galo would be his, nevertheless, it seemed like it was a lost cause.

Yellow tulips meant jealousy and hopeless love.

He could no longer keep the coughing in and had to bow over the toilet bowl to cough his lungs out. Seeing the fully bloomed tulip floating on the water surface, Lio could tell he won’t have much time left. He’s been getting chest pains and started to heave for air after a slight run. The roots had dug deep into his lungs, trying to suffocate him with its beautiful flowers.

Lio gathered the stray flowers that did not make it into the bowl and flushed them away. Sometimes he was glad that Galo does not wake easily once he’s asleep. He cleaned up the bathroom and went to prepare breakfast, pretending everything is okay.

It never went as planned.

A fit attacked him when he was doing clean up with Gueira and Meis later that day. It racked his body, forcing him to his knees, and hacked out his lungs. His loyal friends were by his side in an instance, and he could not prevent them from seeing tulips fluttered out between his lips.

“What the!? You have hanahaki?” Gueira was panicking, “Why you never told us?” Meis was occupied with trying to calm Lio’s coughing. It took a while for it to subside and Lio was exhausted. Yellow petals scattered around him like an angel’s halo.

“I didn’t want to worry anyone.”

It hurts them that Lio still thought he should shouldered every problem alone, “Boss, you know you can trust us. When did it happen?” Meis rubbed his back, holding him steady in his arms, “I don’t really know. Probably a few months earlier……” He rasped, throat hurting from exerting so much with the flowers scrapping against the delicate muscle.

Gueira produced a water bottle from his backpack, feeing Lio with small sips of water, “And you never told anyone? Not even Galo?” At the shake of his head, both of them felt silent. “Boss…... Do you want to see a doctor?”

That got a reaction.

Lio jumped at the suggestion like he was burned, eyes wide with fear. Fear of what? “No! I will not see a doctor! I know my current situation and I’m not getting any surgeries!” With such exertion, he began coughing again, his friends helpless at his side.

“But Boss, you can’t expect us to do nothing about it! You could die!”

“……I rather die remembering than forgetting.”

It hurts, it hurts to see their proud and powerful leader, reduced to this.

“Will you at least tell us who you felt in love with?”

They never got an answer.

* * *

It was by chance that Galo noticed the lone bright yellow flower on the ground. He was cleaning the bathroom when he saw it hiding behind the waste basket. Out of curiosity, he picked it up just to shock upon feeling the petal’s texture on his fingers.

The delicate yellow felt soft and smooth, but Galo could felt the presence of death that lingered on its surface.

He quickly teared through the apartment, snagging his coat on his way out of the door.

You see, Galo knew what hanahaki was and what does it meant to catch hanahaki. After all, he was a stage three hanahaki survivor. And now that he thought of it, he felt stupid and blinded. It was assumed by people that hanahaki disappeared with the Great World Blaze, but it never occurred to them, the disease merely went dormant with the appearance of the Promare.

The disease hibernated, waiting for its chance to shine.

For thirty years, it was scarce but still existing. Galo was one of its victims. When Galo first lost his parent, he attached himself to the one who saved him from the fire, Kray Foresight. Always carrying an admiration for heroes since he was a little boy, he quickly imprinted on the man, not knowing he was the culprit that killed his parents indirectly.

Galo held great respect and admiration for Kray, trying to acquainting himself to the man, not realizing the distain he held. He tried his best at everything, trying to become the hero he dreamt of being. Until one day, it crashed down hard on him.

White half blooms emerged from his lips.

His grandfather found him sobbing hard hiding into a corner. His grandfather was not blind to what happened but he gave space for Galo to understand the situation. He only answered when Galo deemed himself ready for the truth.

Galo had known that Kray did not felt the same about him. His grandfather explained to him that the flowers used to be common a few years ago, but somehow when silent. When flowers starting to grow inside a body, it meant whatever feeling one harbored, it was unrequited.

Daffodils, it meant respect and admiration

But it also meant unrequited love.

After extensive heart-to-heart session with his grandfather, Galo decided to move on. The flowers wilted, leaving him a bad aftertaste of death and helplessness. Although moving on, he still respected Kray. It was only normal for him.

And he had remained blind even though the flowers told him everything.

It scared him, finding the lone flower in the bathroom.

There weren’t any flowers that grew closed enough to be blown into his apartment, there weren’t even a flower shop in the area and the fact that his bathroom window always remained shut in order to preserve the heat when Lio first moved in with him. Unless someone had brought flowers into his home, there was no way for a flower to be in there. Especially one that was quite heavy in full bloom.

And let’s not forget how he could feel the death on it……

He hiked onto his bike and drove off to the firehouse.

Lucia was feeding Vinny when she heard the screeching of tire against concrete and a familiar bike almost crashed into the wall with how fast it was going, “Wow, wow, wow. Where the fire, boy wonder?” she couldn’t help feeling dread in her stomach at Galo’s expression.

Rattled, harsh breath, pupil diluted with fear, it made everyone in the lobby attentive, “Galo, what’s wrong?” Ever the calm leader, Ignis put his hand on Galo’s shoulder helping him to calm down. The man took a deep breath before trying to talk, “Did you guys saw Lio by any chance?”

“No, he didn’t drop by today.”Aina answered, her tone tainted with nervousness, “Galo, why are you looking so scared?”

“Hanahaki.”

Remi looked up from his report, “Pardon?”

“Lio had hanahaki! I don’t know for how long, but he! I- I found a flower in my bathroom and it- it-!” Galo could felt he’s panicking, his breath short and quicken, his vision swam with dizziness. “Galo, calm down! That’s an order!” Unable to ignore Ignis authority, he forced himself to calm.

It took a lot of his self control to make it happened.

“Now, try to explain from the start.”

“I- I found a flower and it was a hanahaki flower. Lio’s probably suffering right now, and I had to save him!” His friends were skeptical, “That’s impossible. Hanahaki haven’t been reported ever since Promare appeared. The disease is officially dead, and how did you know it was a hanahaki flower, and not some normal flower?”

“Hanahaki never disappear! It just went dormant. And I know because I’m a survivor!”

Imagine the shock when he revealed the news.

It was common nowadays for people to think that hanahaki no longer existed, but seeing now Galo had been subjected to it, they began to question its truthfulness. If hanahaki truly disappear upon the Blaze, it was not possible to contact the disease.

Apparently, they were wrong along. Galo was born after the Blaze, if he had contacted it, that the theory was disproven all along.

Even after thirty years of inactivity, one could always find hanahaki survivor among the people. When the flowers wilted due to having feeling returned or moving on or surgery, they always, always left a mark, a scar if you will. And only those who tried and succeed to overcome their feelings through all the emotional traumas will be left with being able to feel the dread when they met another victim.

It was a curse.

But Galo was glad he was cursed.

Lucia had begins to track down where Lio had went. Remi had phoned the Burnish shelter but the one in charged stated that Lio did not visit today and no one knew what he had scheduled for today. Aina had tried to call Meis and Gueira but they were picking up their phone.

“No, I couldn’t get through. They’re not picking up.”

“Don’t Lio always inform you where he goes?” Varys looked at Galo, “He left early today. I wasn’t able to catch him at breakfast.” A sharp beeping and triumph yell caught their attention, “I found him!” Lucia’s fingers were dancing across her custom keyboard, the screens in front of her flashing rapidly before showing a map with a red light beeping.

“I installed a tracker in his new bike.” She said, pointing to the red dot on screen, “From the looks of it, your best bet is the ruins in the south district.” Galo faintly remembered Lio’s casual statement of planning to clean up the remaining rubbers and dashed to his bike. The motor vroomed as he hightailed out of the building, shouting in thanks.

“Try to get there in time, lover boy!”

Lio’s cough was getting harsher and he was having difficulty to breath, there was nothing Meis and Gueira could do about it! They were frustrated and angry and most importantly, hopeless. It didn’t help that Lio refused to see a doctor and still keeping a tight lid on who he felt in love with.

“Boss, please…… At least tell us who is it. Why do you always tries to suffer by yourself?”

Tiredly raising his head, Lio was at peace, “What good would it do telling? It wasn’t as if I had a chance for my affection to be return…… Someone like me doesn’t deserve somebody as radiant as him……” Meis could tell Lio was getting delirious. He had been drifting in and out of consciousness, mumbling in reply to their questions.

“I didn’t even realized I fell in love. If I haven’t been stupid, I could have avoided this……” The flowers had been piling up around them, circling them, “Out of everyone, why it had to be him……” He wailed in despair.

Meis who had been quietly holding Lio as he mumbled tiredly quickly connected the dots.

“Gueira, call the shelter. See if there’s anyone that knows what tulip means.” Scared for his friend, Gueira did as told. Upon learning the meaning, they could finally understand why Lio was so stubborn about it.

Naturally, he felt that he did not deserved feeling love. Lio had been on the run for so long, that he forgot what it meant to be in love. Meis knew he wished for it sometimes, there were times when he caught Lio staring at couples with loving smiles on their faces as they gazed at their loved one. Deep down, Lio craved for love, at the expense of killing himself.

As Meis was trying to think of an idea for him to try and confess, the solution had found itself to their doorstep. A loud yell calling Lio’s name, asking where were they. Gueira reacted immediately, waving his arm to capture Galo’s attention, “Over here!”

If they didn’t know any better, they would think Galo teleported himself with how fast he was running to them. Once he saw Lio’s condition, he dropped to his knees, palms gently cupping pale cheeks, “Lio? Lio, can you look at me?” The younger man stirred weakly at his voice, arm raised in reflex to search for the source of comfort.

Galo grabbed his hand and squeezed it, trying his best to remain calm and collected, “Lio, why you never said anything? I could have helped you.” His gaze started to blur around the edge, he was crying. Meis shifted slightly, holding Lio out towards Galo, “I think why he didn’t said anything was because he’s afraid. Boss…… had been through so much that he won’t believe he deserved anything. That it was fate for him to be in this state. He…… he never even though of asking for help……”

“Galo Thymos.” Meis raised his watery gaze, “It was you who made him feel again. To know what it’s like to love, and to love so hard that it triggered hanahaki. It was you that his heart yearned for.” Blue eyes widen in realization but darted back down as he felt movements. Lio had started to trash weakly against Meis’ hold as he heard those words.

“Meis…… No……”

“Boss, please let he love you.”

“There…… nothing to love……”

Trembling in rage, he replied, “That’s not true! Everything about you is to be loved! Your looks, your voice, even your personality. I already lost you once, Lio! I’m not losing you the second time!” Meis took this as cue to hand Lio over into Galo’s arms. He did not miss the way Lio curled into his warmth on base instinct, softly weeping. Petals and flowers strewn everywhere as he coughed, body straining at the stress.

“Lio, I’m so sorry for letting you feel undeserved……” With that said, Galo pressed his lips to Lio’s. Multiple things befell at the same time, the flowers scattering around vanished into thin air without leaving any traces. Lio’s tear stopped as his complexion returned to their normal color instead of pale. Somehow it felt like something washed over the place, purifying all in its way.

Lio had gotten hold on Galo’s shoulder, refusing to let go as the firefighter comforted him.

“Well, I guess all’s well ends well.” Gueira joined the comforting party, lightly patting Lio’s back. Meis moved to their side, leaning against them and eventually sighed in relief.

When they gotten back, Ignis already had a doctor on standby in case Galo did find Lio on time. Upon check up, the doctor declared Lio’s cured of hanahaki, but still prescribed him some medicine to dull the pain in his throat and lungs and prevent further damages. Galo had been appointed to keep Lio calm at all times. Victims newly cured of hanahaki can be slightly frail in emotion, so it is important to make them feels safe and secure.

Ignis out right ordered Galo not to show up at the station until Lio was stable. Nerves rattled beyond description, Galo did not argue with it. He took Lio home and helped him settled into the bed. Lio was bundled up with his favorite sweater and soft blanket, making a nest with the pillows around him.

Meis and Gueira helped out in the kitchen boiling some water, hunting down tea leaves in the cabinets.

The kettle whistled the tea brew. They left knowing there’s nothing more they could do to help, instead trusting Galo to take care of their friend.

“Meis and Gueira made you some chamomile tea.” Galo supplied softly, “Careful, it’s hot.” Ceramic clinked against each other in a light tone, small hands wrapped around the cup to savor its heat. “Thank you.” He adjusted some of the pillows before climbing into the bed, settled behind Lio and cuddled him. The two of them fell into silence, enjoyed each other’s presence.

Lio drank his tea in small sips, slowly coming down from all the emotional stress. He grounded himself by feeling Galo’ arm around him, warm and strong holding him down. He set the cup onto the nightstand beside the bed and huddled back into Galo’ embrace, “I was scared. When I first saw the petal……”

“I tried to ignore it, thinking it will just…… go away on its own.” He swallowed, “……But it got worst. Especially when I got jealous at Aina.” Lio laughed with no humor, prompting Galo to squeeze him slightly, “I’m sorry…… for keeping it a secret.”

Galo shook his head and buried his face into mint colored strands, “No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for making you felt like this. I’m sorry that I did not notice earlier.” Warm palms cupped chilled cheeks, turning Lio to face him, he pressed a kiss to Lio’s forehead before resting his against it. “If you hadn’t missed a flower, I would have lost you forever. Please don’t do this to me…… My poor heart can’t take losing anyone important once more. Promise you will tell me everything that troubles you in the future?” Lio could felt his eyes itched before the handsome face in front of him got blurred. He buried himself into Galo’s chest, weeping as the man cooed to him in soft murmurs.

They felt asleep holding each other.

* * *

Light peeked through the crack of the bedroom’s curtain as dawn came the next day.

Lio stirred when a beam hit right over his face. Blinking awake wearily, he found himself unwilling to rise from the warmth that surrounding him, with a heavy weight pressed against his side and back. He was about to fall back asleep when the grounding weight shifted and pulled him closer to the solid mass resting beside him.

Oh, now he remembered.

“You awake?” Asked an oh so soft and gentle mumble laced with sleep.

Lio responded by nuzzling deeper, as if trying to merge himself into Galo. The firefighter chuckled at his antics, before wiggling and pulling and tucking the blankets around them, so that they could hold each other directly. When the wall of white finally lifted, Lio found himself face to face with the guy he hopelessly fell in love with.

“Hi there.” He was gifted with a sweet peck to the nose as thick fingers snaked through his not so pristine hair scratching at his scalp. Lio hefted out a contented sigh as he relaxed to the varying pressure applied to the base of his skull. “Don’t stop……” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Soon, morning birds began their crescendo and they realized they haven’t eaten anything since last night. Galo reluctantly got up from bed much to Lio’s displeasure huff. Before he realized it, a pair of hands grabbed at his waist and hefted him back into Galo’s arms, “W-what?”

“I’m making breakfast and you’re coming with me.” Then proceed to warp him up in a blanket, “Pfft, you looked like a burrito. A cute Lio-burrito.” With his hair, Lio did look like a lettuce wrapped in a tortilla and it was adorable. He carried him out to the kitchen before deposited Lio onto a stool by the kitchen island. Tea were made, breakfast consisted of eggs and toasts with a slice of ham.

Breakfast was eaten without words, before long, they were nursing their drinks.

“So…… what’s going to happen to us?” Thumb tracing the rim of his cup, Lio was unsure of what awaits them now. Leaning forward, Galo cupped his hands around Lio’s, holding them in comfort, “I don’t really know what awaits us…… But think you can have faith for us to make this work?”

Oh, this silly, silly man. How could you still shine so brightly in all this murky grey? It made Lio’s heart all warm and fluttery and happy. He smiled through fresh tears, “Yeah, I think I will.” The grin on Galo’s face was so bright, it made him feeling a bit faint with the affection it radiated.

Palms migrated to his face and the kiss they shared was less desperate, more passion and heated. Tongues clashing in a mock fight of dominance before Galo yielded to him, letting him take control of the kiss. When they finally let go of each other, both were red faced and panting, but chests feeling lighter.

“I want to cuddle.” Lio whispered into quiet morning saved for their breathing and the birds outside of the window. Without further ado, Galo heaved Lio into his arms again before striding into the bedroom. Remaining half cups of tea forgotten on the island, witnessing the door closed with a quiet click.

The birds continued singing their joyous melodies, seemingly cheering from the bottom of their hearts.


End file.
